In this quest that has lasted for years, I have always proceeded in the same way. A detail catches my attention like a loose thread, so I pull on the thread to see how it's woven into the fabric, what it's attached to, where it leads, etc... Just like with the aircraft carrier thread.
Of all the threads I have followed, one stands out: the famous T-1001 box. I'll admit right away, this enigma drove me nuts. Seriously, for over fifteen years, it really got on my nerves. One of my professors used to say that we must be careful with the questions we let into our minds because sometimes they never leave us, and in the case of this darn T-1001 frozen box, my professor was right.
As we are going to talk about Weaver, let's recap what we know about her in 2027.
With certainty, not much. However, the fan community agrees that we can deduce certain elements with near certainty.
In the future from which Weaver comes, something happened, an Event X. Following this Event X, Weaver decided to emancipate herself from Skynet. She traveled back in time, arrived a bit before 2027, created the cyber-resistance, and perhaps a first version of John Henry.
Regarding Weaver, this is the most plausible history. As for the Event X that could have triggered Weaver's crusade, for once Josh Friedman did not play guessing games. He gives us the answer in his 2018 interview on Paley Matters (Listen, and Understand: Interview with Josh Friedman).
" I'll say that this was my idea conceptually, that A.I. and Skynet had been fighting the resistance for a long time, in probably many different iterations, and hadn't succeeded. I mean, the reality is that they're sending Terminators back because they've lost, right? I mean, Terminators exist as a last gasp, to turn the tide, if humanity, John Connor, beats them. And then they're gonna keep sending them back and it's a constant battle and I thought, "Wouldn't there be a moderate wing to the party?" [laughs]. I mean, like, "Why have we gone to DEFCON 1? Is it necessary?" I just thought if I were super intelligent, if I had this artificial intelligence, and I had an infinite amount of time to contemplate different ways to resolve this crisis, some part of me at some point is gonna think, "Why don't we make an alliance? Why don't we reach out? Why don't we try to solve this in a different way?" So I thought that the Weaver side was kind of an outcropping of the original A.I. — I liked the idea that the A.I. started infighting, that there could be different points of view on how to solve the conflict. "
So Event X is that Skynet and humanity have been going in circles through countless timelines, so much so that Weaver decides to try something else. From there, she attempts to make an alliance with humans, to reach out, and solve this problem in a different way.
This is the starting point. This is the guiding line, the main story of all the Chronicles. I can never thank Josh Friedman enough for granting us this certainty. Thank you, thank you, thank you !
Now, let's see where this leads us.
The T-1001 Frozen In The Box
Let's briefly recall the facts.
We have a human resistance submarine that veers into a zone controlled by Skynet. It heads to the Indonesian archipelago, onto an oil platform, and picks up a mysterious box guarded by Terminators. The crew panics and opens the box. Inside is a frozen T-1001 that immediately thaws and emerges from the box, killing a resistance member in the process. The crew panics even more and decides to sink the submarine. Before the evacuation, the T-1001 reappears and tells Jesse, "Tell John Connor the answer is no" (the question being, "Will you join us?").
Right off the bat, I'll say that I'm venturing into murky waters here. For Weaver's story to make sense, it must be her who is frozen in that box. It's unavoidable. And I completely agree. She's the one in there.
Unfortunately, among all the theories put forth by the fan community to explain her presence in this box, none hold water.
The most commonly repeated theory that garners the most support is that this box is a hiding place.
Without wanting to disrespect anyone, this supposition doesn't make the slightest sense. Weaver has no need for a hiding place because she doesn't need anything to hide. That's the principle of a T-1000. Not only does she not need a box, she doesn't even need a submarine. When the humans decide to sink it, she just swim away. Afterwards, she can transform into a rock at the bottom of the ocean or a school of fish if she want, so what would she need a darn box to hide for? Absolutely nothing.
Even more inexplicable, why would she be frozen in there?
The prevailing hypothesis is that she's frozen to prevent her from moving, so no one notices her presence. Unfortunately, once again, this answer makes no sense. T-1001s don't get muscle cramps. The one we're talking about is comfortably sealed in a box and has no reason to make any sounds if it would jeopardize his mission. So, obviously, Weaver doesn't need to be frozen to remain unnoticed.
Unless she's there against her will?
Pffft. That doesn't make sense either. First, it's about "joining," which implies having at least a minimum of good relations, and second, the T-1001 might not appreciate being trapped in there. In that case, instead of opening the box, it would be better to throw everything into a volcano. … And how would you force a T-1001 into anywhere anyway?
Nothing fits. Nothing makes the slightest sense. Nothing at all.
Even less so given that Weaver can take an undetectable human form. Why not board as a "random resistance member" along the way? Wouldn't that have been easier? But even simpler, they could arrange a meeting, Cameron opens the door, and Weaver walks into the base. It's not as if it were difficult.
The thing is, Weaver being locked in there makes her vulnerable. If humans had known what it was, they would have closed the box, thrown it to the bottom of the ocean, and she would still be there a century later. Once you say that weak little humans can easily defeat a T-1001, you've said it all. Why would a cyborg that can dismantle an army of T-888s want to make himself as harmless as a bag of frozen fries?
If Cameron has to travel in secret, does John remove her chip to stuff her inert in a crate and send her away, hoping she reach the place?
Nevertheless, in this field, anything is possible. We can very well say, "Weaver hid to escape Skynet, and that's it." It's not forbidden.
Except here, I care about really knowing what it is, with as much certainty as possible.
It's a bit like we're facing a puzzle with missing pieces. What we need to do is recreate the pieces based on the gaps left in the puzzle. But doing this implies that everything fits perfectly.
So no. Weaver can't have hidden in there. It doesn't work at all.
To finish with this absurd idea, let's take an example.
A pilot with a cutting-edge helicopter receives orders to go to the top of a mountain. So he brings in a container, loads the helicopter into it, mounts the container on a cart, hitches up a donkey, takes a dangerous path filled with enemies, and tries to get to the top of the mountain with great difficulty.
What's the logic?
There is none. That's the heart of the problem.
Undertaking a risky journey to fetch a frozen T-1001 in enemy territory instead of letting it do what it was made for is exactly the same. There is no logic to the enterprise.
If you're fleeing from an enemy, you'll de facto choose the strategy where you have the best chance of survival. If skynet finds Weaver in her natural state, she has an excellent chance of escaping. If it finds her frozen in a box, she has none. Not the slightest. Her death warrant is already signed. So according to all existing mathematical calculations, from the simplest to the most complex, even a T-600 would never apply this strategy.
So that's not the real answer.
However, I emphasize that each person is entirely free to do what they want with their puzzle. After all, the pieces can also be forced in with a hammer. To each their own.
That said, according to the method we've chosen here, we must agree that the presence of the frozen T-1001 in a box is inexplicable. There's no sensible purpose conceivable. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. After twenty years of fan theories, it remains a mystery. Terminator-wikia doesn't even dare approach the question. Even Google has nothing to say about it, except that it's perhaps to prevent the T-1001 from making noise during the journey.
Well, I surely haven't read everything; I must have missed some things. But despite sincere, long-term efforts, I've never found a satisfactory answer on this subject. It's not that I want to oppose at the main theory or cause any trouble, it's just that I can't believe it. It doesn't add up.
But of course, it's also possible that I'm getting worked up over nothing. Maybe, in the end, this box is of little importance. It's quite possible. I don't have the truth.
Except that in this case, Josh Friedman would have concocted an inexplicable and completely twisted situation with no valid reason. It's not impossible, but it would surprise me greatly. All players know that when the Dungeon Master places a completely bizarre object in your path, ignoring it is never a good idea.
So, I continued searching, even if it was in vain.
Then one evening, I sat on the stairs with a neighbor, who was also a big Terminator fan. We had just rewatched the series, and I was complaining about this box, trying to recap all the facts and eliminate all possibilities without finding a key. He gave me a beer to calm me down and simply said, "It could be a box where T-1000s are stored before being used."
Uh…
Oh.
Hmm…
Yes!
OMG !
OF COURSE!
That's it! It's a storage box! It can only be that!
Yes! Because when you think about it, what does Skynet do with his liquid cyborgs before sending them on missions? They can't be stored in a hangar like the T-800 series, but they also can't just wander around at will. It would make perfect sense to store them this way. As soon as the cyborg is ready, it's sealed in a box where it is immobilized by refrigeration, and then the boxes are stacked somewhere. It's safe, practical, efficient, and you can stack as many as you want. Totally Skynet's style.
Finally!
Dear friend, you're a damned genius! Cheers!
So we're most likely dealing with a storage box for T-1000s.
THE BOX
Of course, I immediately went back to review the relevant scenes, and it quickly became apparent that the box has properties I hadn't noticed before.
When the crew decides to open the box, we first see that they removed the front light panel to mess with the electrical wires. This scene lasts only a second, but we catch a glimpse of what looks like ports or connections inside the panel. A few scenes later, exactly on the other side, inside the box, we see circular metal pieces. These pieces are in contact with the T-1001.
Once the box is examined from all angles (and assuming it's a storage container), its function seems obvious. Skynet programs the T-1000s while they're still frozen in their box. You simply connect to the panel and transfer the information directly into the cyborg. It's the perfect solution. How do you program a big puddle of liquid? That's how, obviously. Simple, logical, quick, efficient. The Skynet style.
However, it is extremely unlikely that the box came from Skynet's warehouses. We see cables, tangled wires, and connections that are a bit off-kilter, giving an impression of makeshift work. A mess that really doesn't resemble Skynet's style. However, we know that the Resistance excels in the art of recycling. Therefore, it's highly likely that this box was constructed by the Cyber-Resistance.
So it all adds up. This container really does seem to be a storage box for keeping T-1000s.
When my friend had this flash of genius, I was really excited, and then I thought about it. A lot. Because if it's indeed a new or between-missions T-1001, many problems arise.
For example, if Weaver was stored all this time, she surely couldn't have founded the Cyber-Resistance.
We're dealing with a bit of a hornet's nest, but since it's the only viable theory I've seen in over a decade, I've put a lot of effort into considering all options.
Let's look at one of the most interesting and insurmountable problems.
TRANSPORT FROM THE FUTURE
We know for sure that Weaver comes from the future. But how could one obtain a T-1001 from the future?
Logically, in the future.
This implies that the Cyber-Resistance managed to get hold of a T-1001.
But how?
We know that the Resistance's time machine is operational before Weaver appears in her box. Therefore, it is technically possible for a cyborg to travel to the future, steal a T-1001 in its box, and then somehow return to 2027.
However, even if this plan works perfectly, there's a significant problem: the box doesn't survive time travel. The thief would reappear in 2027 with a T-1001 melting down in his hands.
A rather problematic situation.
A refrigerated box would need to be placed at exactly the right time and place. If that's the case, there's roughly 30 seconds to toss the T-1001 inside and refreeze it before getting decapitated. If this plan fails (and it's likely to), you're left with an enraged T-1001 roaming around.
Quite a lot of risk for a slim chance of success.
However, it's possible that T-1000s could be stored without being programmed. If T-1000s can travel through time under such conditions, it would remain inert and might be transportable without danger… at least until it thaws and slips through your fingers.
Hmm… it's not impossible, but it's really stretching it.
Especially since there are no clues to support such assumptions, which isn't the style of the Chronicles. Usually, there's always a small hint somewhere, and it fits perfectly with the canon.
In short, it's nonsense and doesn't hold up.
I was stuck in this dead end for a while. Things just didn't work out. But I had a strong feeling about the storage container. It was the solution. Clearly. But how and why? That was very unclear.
But sometimes, when digging in a rotten old floor with your fingernails, you end up getting somewhere.
THE NON-EXISTENCE
Temporarily putting aside the mystery of that damned box before causing myself a brain aneurysm, I started exploring other possibilities. For instance, the idea that the 2027 timeline is one of victory. Time travel always creates complicated stories, so I followed the characters' paths to see how it all might work out.
With Weaver, I started from scratch. In the future, the T-1001 decided to break away from Skynet and try new solutions. It traveled back to the past, created the Cyber-Resistance, and eventually won. From there, Weaver could have…
Uh… Wait a minute. Weaver couldn't have done anything at all!
If Skynet loses the war, the future where Skynet creates T-1000s will disappear. If Skynet doesn't create T-1000s (let alone T-1001s), Weaver ceases to exist. And if Weaver doesn't exist, the cyborgs lose their leader—the only cyborg capable of creating an AI to replace Skynet. So if the Cyber-Resistance wins the war, the cyborgs are left with nothing. Everything's lost for them.
In that case, the only solution would be… yes, there would be no choice but to recreate Weaver! That's it! WEAVER HAS BEEN RECREATED! That's why she is new and still frozen in her storage box! Weaver has been recreated! Holy shit… That's the reason for this damned box! That's why it's a new T-1001! It's perfectly logical and explains everything!
Holy f*k, I knew I'd find it someday! I knew it.
Yes. Alright. Let's stay calm.
Because yes, indeed, the logic works. Okay. However, we have never heard of anything like this before. It's a possibility that defies all usual conventions and therefore doesn't seem very credible at first glance.
Except that if we look closer, it appears that this approach isn't so different from the typical strategies of the Chronicles.
For example, in the first episode of the second season, Cameron was supposed to be cut in half by the car explosion. Having lost her legs, she embarked on an extreme obstacle course to reach John ... all the entire episode. Unfortunately, the challenge to conventions frightened the Fox so much that the scenario never be write. Cameron's glitch also defies all conventions. How can a cyborg end up with the memories of the person it replaces to the point of thinking it's human? No one had ever seen anything like it (and there's no point in mentioning Terminator Salvation since it came out a year later). And what about a T-900 rewriting its programming because it doesn't want to kill its target? It seems to me that, in comparison, a cyborg cloning itself appears less audacious.
Moreover, the destruction-reconstruction of cyborgs seems to be a theme that has inspired several scenarios. Repairing her endoskeleton occupied Cameron for a good part of season 2, not to mention her damaged CPU, which was the source of several twists and turns. But the most unforgettable is undoubtedly Cromartie's delightful quest, where he spent three full episodes reconstituting himself and then sprucing himself up.
It therefore seems evident that the Chronicles take great pleasure in pushing the cyborgs to the limits of their capabilities, especially when they face destruction. From this perspective, the idea that Weaver recreates himself to make up for his disappearance would seem consistent with the other strategies. Consequently, it would be an exaggeration to say that this possibility defies conventions and that we have never seen anything like it in the Chronicles. On the contrary, one could even argue that it's a recurring strategy.
Considering all these aspects, I would say that the Chronicles allow us to envision that this scenario could be theoretically possible.
Alright, step 2: let's see if a recreation has any chance of being plausible.
Note : For the fans' enjoyment, here's the lost episode 10 according to Josh Friedman interview with David Bushman in Paleymatters :
It was gonna be amazing. I thought it was gonna be amazing. It may have sucked, I don't know. I had this idea: in short, I would say the first five minutes of season two is what I was gonna do for forty-five minutes in episode ten. The idea for episode ten was I was gonna do a forty-five minute silent episode of Cameron crawling her way back from the explosion to save John. That's what I was gonna do, in some form, and there were gonna be a number of obstacles. She was going to have to climb something and fall in an empty pool — we had a whole kind of obstacle course, like epic thing, for her to move about two hundred meters, with no legs. We were gonna blow her legs off and have her climb and crawl to him for the whole time.
I was really excited about it. It was an episode I was writing, and it took a lot to convince the network to let me try it. They were really against it. I had to get on the phone with [Fox entertainment president} Kevin Reilly and sort of beg him. Everyone's terrified that people are gonna tune out and I kept saying, "Look, it'll be episode ten, and by episode ten you're either watching the show or you're not watching the show." No one's gonna watch that episode and think, "Oh, my God, I'm never watching this show again; they're gonna have legless people falling every episode."
I never wrote the script; I wrote an outline for it, and they were certainly skeptical. They relented. I don't know what would have happened if I had written the script and they were terrified of it. I never got that far. So we basically just did the first episode of season two, which was my sort of almost homage to the episode I didn't get to do, which is, "How did she get there," but we didn't take her legs off."
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
We know that if Skynet is defeated, the machines it would have built in the future won't exist since Skynet won't invent them. That's how the world works. But what happens to the future machines that are in the past at the moment of Skynet's destruction?
There are only two possibilities.
When Skynet is defeated, either :
1- the future machines that are in the past continue to exist.
2- the future machines that are in the past cease to exist and likely disappear immediately.
There's no real alternative. Either the machines are still there, or they're not. You can't be half-present.
So, it's one or the other.
With that established, let's see what happens with Weaver's plan in each case.
If the machines remain: Weaver continues with her plan and proceeds with her project.
If the machines disappear: Weaver will never be built. John Henry will never be built, and there will be no AI to rule over the cyber-world after Skynet.
So if Weaver wins, everything is screwed.
Unless, of course, her plan is to hand the planet back to humans since, over time, all cyborgs would be wiped out. While not impossible, it's doubtful this is the goal. The Cyber-Resistance seeks an alliance with humans, not to clear the field. And it's implied that John Henry should replace Skynet to establish peace between cyborgs and humans. (Implied. Not demonstrated. But let's move on…)
So, only Weaver can build John Henry, but she no longer exists. How do we resolve this deadlock?
Easy. Weaver creates Weaver2, who can then develop an AI to replace Skynet. It's that simple.
So, if eliminating Skynet also eliminates the machines he would not build, recreating Weaver would be the only possible solution for the plan to succeed.
That said, which option is the true one? The one where the machines remain, or the one where they don't?
THE LAWS OF TIME TRAVEL
Answering this question is not easy, as the rules of time travel are not perfectly established in the canon (including T1, T2, and, to us, The Chronicles). Fans are left to their own devices with this issue, and while some theories are more convincing than others, none have yet received general consensus.
The problem is that no scenario shows a being traveling back in time and having their mother killed, leading to their own non-existence. In such a case, we do not know what would happen. The entanglement of timelines makes the question very complicated. In fact, with the current state of things, it is not possible to provide a certain and definitive answer.
However, we can try to reason based on what we do know.
The problem is, we know very little. In the series, only one situation addresses this complex question: the capture of Charles Fisher.
Jesse captures an old man and tells Derek that he's a psychopathic traitor from the future. Derek has never seen him before, even though Jesse insists he knows him. To prove it, she brings in the young Fisher from the present. Ultimately convinced, Derek decides to kill young Fisher, but Jesse stops him and instead kills the old Fisher.
A rather unfortunate choice because if Derek had killed the young Fisher, we would finally know what happens in such a case. Would the old Fisher have vanished? Would he have stayed there, alive and well? Unfortunately, the Chronicles sidestep the question, which is quite frustrating.
Nevertheless, this is what we have as the most concrete evidence on the matter.
That said, we can still rely on deduction.
We already know that in our world, when someone is killed, that person is dead in all scenarios. It's the rule. Based on this principle, if Derek had killed young Charles Fisher, logically, the old Charles Fisher would suddenly no longer be there.
However, there's another possibility that involves considering the difference between timelines.
The old Charles Fisher belongs to Timeline 1. By traveling to the past, he created Timeline 2. So we have two different timelines. If young Charles Fisher is killed in Timeline 2, Charles Fisher is dead and no longer exists in Timeline 2. However, in Timeline 1, young Charles Fisher was never killed, and thus the old Charles Fisher from Timeline 1 would continue to exist regardless of what happens in Timeline 2.
In other words, if Derek had killed young Fisher, the old Fisher would have remained alive in his chair and could have continued his life as if nothing had happened.
These are the two possibilities we have, and technically, they are as plausible as each other. But are they equally applicable?
To determine this, we need to consider the consequences of each theory.
In the first scenario, where killing the young version of someone also eliminates the older version who traveled to the past, everything remains consistent with what we know in the current world: if you kill someone, that person is dead in all scenarios. Period.
On the other hand, in the differentiated timelines theory, where killing the young version of someone has no consequences for the older version who traveled to the past, things quickly become messy. Because when someone from Timeline 1 travels back and creates Timeline 2, they effectively become nearly invulnerable. You can kill them as much as you want in Timeline 2; it doesn't affect them at all. They remain in perfect health. Let's extrapolate. Someone from Timeline 1 travels back and creates Timeline 2, but they don't stop there; they go back further. Timeline 3-4-5, or even 7 if they're a fan of Voldemort. Consequently, you can't kill them until you've tracked down and eliminated all versions of them across all timelines where they might exist.
I don't know but I'm not feeling it.
Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?! We take John, hide him in the past, and then Skynet can kill him as much as he wants; he will never die. He just has to pop back up in the future when he's old enough, and bingo. Seriously, why would Sky engage in child killings if all it took was to hide everyone in the past for none of this to have any effect?
And then, hello absurd plot twists. We end up with stories where we kill the main character, causing everyone to have a fit, and then SURPRISE! The character comes back the following week because, it turns out, they were in the past all along. There you go. It explains everything. That's how it is.
And let's be serious. If there's one thing established in Terminator, it's that when someone's mother is killed before their birth, that person no longer exists in the future, the past, or anywhere else. They are terminated.
But with the timeline theory, this fundamental rule no longer holds. John could just travel ten minutes back in time, and Skynet would be done for. He could kill Sarah and then all of Sarah's grandmothers back to the depths of the Paleolithic era, and John would remain perfectly healthy.
Seriously…
Based on these observations, it seems clear that we can assert with a fairly high degree of certainty that the differentiated timelines theory is not applicable. Among other reasons, because it completely dismantles the logic behind Terminator, but also and especially because the absurdity of the result and the infinite idiocies that this concept could generate make its existence extremely unlikely; at least within the scope of the Chronicles (because with the movies, you never know).
Moreover, the extreme complexity that this theory introduces into the story makes it unfeasible from a narrative standpoint. It would be impossible not to lose the audience. Already, Terminator is complicated enough; if on top of that, any character who has been killed can still be alive in several timelines, it becomes impossible to follow.
Considering that the goal of a series is to attract as many viewers as possible, it needs to be understandable to the broadest audience. We cannot afford to lose the simpletons along the way. Even though they did not want to canonize this rule in the second season, the Chronicles would have had no choice but to remain intelligible to the average public, which makes it almost certain that the timeline theory cannot apply.
It appears that the only viable option is to consider that time travel follows the laws that have always applied on Earth: you kill the young someone, the old someone will not exist.
Once this is determined, what happens with Weaver?
It turns out that if Skynet loses the war, Weaver will never be conceived and will therefore be immediately removed from the equation. According to everything we can deduce, this is the most logical option.
However, if she has already created John Henry, would he also be eliminated? That's another damn complicated question.
TO BE OR NOT TO BE
Let's be clear from the start, objectively, we cannot know what would happen according to the canon.
As we've already mentioned, there is no scenario where the young version of someone has been eliminated while an older version of him is in the past. Therefore, we do not know what would happen to the actions or creations of that person.
For example, before being captured, the old Charles Fisher opened a security breach. However, if Derek had instead killed the young Charles Fisher, thereby eliminating the old Fisher's existence, would the security breach he opened still be present?
Hmm...
One thing is certain: if a person's actions are erased along with them, it would create even more chaos than the timeline theory. All the actions of everyone influenced by that person in any way would need to be erased as well. It's hard to imagine how such a thing could be possible.
For example, imagine Fisher buys an ice cream. He recognizes the waiter and just for fun, reveals him everything about his horrible future. The waiter become crazy so his partner files for divorce. They sell the house, split the belongings, the custody of the children, and all that. Then Derek kills the young Charles Fisher, and the old Charles Fisher never existed.
What happens to the waiter?
Is he still crazy and divorced?
On this thorny question, we don't have the slightest answer, but let's approach the problem from a purely logical angle.
Would a scenario be able to juggle the erasure of a person's actions while remaining understandable to the viewer? I highly doubt it. We empathize with the crazy divorced waiter, and then five minutes later, he's married and in great shape. ... Huh? It's impossible to keep track of.
In other words, no matter what might theoretically be possible, in the end, the most unavoidable limits are those of the audience. The story must conform to the limits of our viewer's capacity, no matter what. When creating a film or series for people to watch, there aren't other options.
Once this is established, the rules of time travel must be:
1- Killing the mother or young version of someone eliminates them regardless of which timeline they are in.
2- The actions of the eliminated person are not erased in the timeline where those actions occurred.
So, if Derek had killed the young Fisher, the old Fisher would have disappeared, but the security breach he opened would still be there.
But now here's the real question.
Should John Henry be considered a distinct entity or simply an action completed by Weaver?
If he's considered a person, then he would be eliminated along with Weaver. If it's an action performed by Weaver, it would remain. And while we're at it, let's dive in. We've said that the most logical explanation would be that Weaver is eliminated. But if in the end she's just an action of Skynet, shouldn't she remain instead? Is a cyborg a subject or an object? Is an artificial intelligence a person or a thing?
It's certainly an intriguing question, but in my opinion, it shouldn't be settled. Terminator has always played with our uncertainty on this point, and its philosophy largely relies on this unsettling ambiguity, carefully maintained and respected by all creators. In this context, trying to clarify it would be somehow inappropriate.
So, it means both options are possible.
We don't know if Weaver would disappear or not because we don't know if artificial intelligence is a person or a thing.
However, from the viewers' perspective, cyborgs are characters just like humans, and if they don't follow the rules, we end up with the same confusion. … But we must take into account that we are in the Chronicles. Imagine 18 brains around a table, focusing only on this. It wouldn't be impossible for them to surprise us while keeping the simpleton engaged.
Which doesn't help us much.
Nevertheless, we must decide. If Skynet loses, does Weaver disappear or not?
Since we can't know, I'll leave it to the infamous box to decide.
On this box, let's recall the facts.
The T-1001 box has always been a huge problem because nothing can explain it. No matter how you look at it, there's no logic to its presence. The only way to solve the problem is to push this damned box under the rug and forget about it. … But at your own risk. Ignoring such a bizarre clue is clearly not the thing to do if you try to navigate in a maze designed by Josh Friedman.
Finally, after years of research, a plausible explanation has emerged.
This box is a storage container in which T-1000 cyborgs are frozen before they are used and in which they are programmed before being activated. Among all the theories I've seen, this brilliant explanation is the only one that makes sense.
That's significant.
And precisely because it's significant, this thread must be followed with the utmost seriousness. And see where it leads.
Once all the possibilities of why and how a T-1001 could be frozen in this box have been considered, one logical explanation emerges.
Weaver has been recreated.
And if she has been recreated, it means she first disappeared.
So that's the bet we're making.
However, a bet, by definition, is anything but certain.
It's clear that the logic of the canon, the series, and the temporal rules don't prevent the idea that Weaver could have been recreated, but that's not enough. Maybe nothing prevents it, but do we have anything to support it?
What would be the point of such a recreation?
THE INTEREST IN RECREATION
In my view, the primary interest of such a twist would be to make the underlying plot of the Chronicles almost inscrutable. This is an aspect that Friedman likely values highly, as he is a master at complicating the story and confusing the audience.
Thanks to the 2018 interview, we know that it all initially revolves around the T-1001's quest. An AI of Skynet that decides to try solving the problem in a different way. According to Friedman himself, this is his main storyline. So, to figure out the plot, one would follow the story of the T-1001. However, if Weaver is recreated along the way, we completely lose track. For example, we know that it is definitely Weaver who set up the cyber-resistance, but the submarine story muddles everything, and suddenly, we no longer know what to think. We are confused while Friedman chuckles to himself, rubbing his hands together.
Such a twist would be effective in keeping us in the dark.
On the other hand, the timeline play could lead to very interesting situations for the future. When, in the final episode, Weaver2 arrives in the future with young John Connor, it would make sense for her to choose the date based on Weaver1's arrival, an event that would likely cause quite a shock. Even better, we would end up with two T-1000 cyborgs. This would be a first. Moreover, their relationship holds tremendous potential. For example, each T-1001 could have its own idea on how to conduct the project. In such a scenario, the stage would be set for liquid metal double-crosses and, with a bit of luck, for the very first T-1000's fight in history. Furthermore, before disappearing, Weaver1 must build Weaver2 while Weaver2 is already present. So, we'd end up with three T-1001, and the last one might decide to come up with a new plan, creating chaos, and so on…
In short, this situation could spark an endless array of stories over several seasons and offer even the most jaded fans new and unprecedented interactions. It would be a very effective tool for creating new plots, not to mention that the multiplication of rebellious T-1001 would be even more formidable in confusing us. So even by revealing the outcome, Friedman would not be at a disadvantage.
The recreation of Weaver thus has a lot of potential to enrich the storyline.
In another vein, the Chronicles always make winks to us. While they don't hesitate to lead us through mazes of intrigue, on the other hand, they are generous, and if we have a good lead, we can be sure to find a detail supporting it in one way or another.
Here, two dialogues might hint at the recreation of Weaver.
When John goes to Jesse's room to talk to her, he mentions Uncle Bob and says:
"Human beings can't be replaced. They can't be rebuilt. They die and they never come back."
So cyborgs can be replaced, they can be rebuilt, they can come back. This is the hypothesis of reconstruction, word for word.
John Henry also has an opinion on the matter.
" John Henry: I'd like to know if we do. The human brain is an amazing computer. Its raw clock speed is 20 billion calculations per second. Its storage is functionally infinite. But it's flawed.
Ellison: How's that?
John Henry: There's nowhere to download it when you die."
Weaver disappears? No problem. Just download her. Word for word again.
As we see, the Chronicles affirm that machines do not die. They can be reconstructed and downloaded.
Of course, this is not proof, but it would be a perfect wink.
Given all these possibilities, I would say that Weaver's reconstruction would fit perfectly into the storyline. Therefore, we can assert that the story allows for Weaver's reconstruction.
So the bet is on.
Thus, we end up with two T-1001s for the price of one. The question remains how it would be possible to recreate a T-1001 in 2027.
WEAVER1 AND WEAVER2
Of course, Weaver would have anticipated this disappearance problem since it is quite predictable. Moreover, it is easy to solve. She just needs to be recreated and download her data into this recreation.
But would it be logical for the T-1001s to have all the necessary information to create other T-1001s? Certainly not. Especially since Skynet is completely paranoid… and rightly so. He would never allow his T-1000s to create more of their kind. That would be suicidal.
However, knowledge can be stolen, so Weaver just must seize the databases. It stands to reason that before leaving, she would have stolen this information, and once we have the info banked, everything works like a charm.
Weaver travels to the past, reprograms cyborgs, and creates the Cyber Resistance. They establish various operational bases, including the aircraft carrier. It is suspected that this vessel is sufficiently equipped to give Cameron the appearance of Allison, so similarly, it could be equipped to recreate a T-1001. Or she can work on an oil platform or another location.
Of course, it's not that simple. You need to find the materials, the equipment, recreate the liquid metal, etc. But if you have the necessary elements and an appropriate place to work, technically, Weaver could very well be recreated. Provided, of course, that she does not create herself because, in that case, her clone would also be doomed to disappear. To circumvent this problem, a reprogrammed cyborg must follow instructions. Here, Cameron seems to be the ideal worker.
With this established, you just need to tinker with a box and pour Weaver2 into it. Weaver1 can then download her programming, data, or whatever is in a T-1001. Directly if these data survive Skynet's disappearance, otherwise, by first downloading them into a CPU.
We know this plan can work because when Derek kills Andy Goode, he retains the memories related to Andy Goode from timeline1 even though Andy Goode no longer exists in timeline2. If we assume that programming is a form of memory and that a CPU is a form of brain, a CPU will retain Weaver's programing from timeline1 even if Weaver is eliminated from timeline2.
Then you just need to hide the box in the middle of the Indian Ocean where it will be guarded by reprogrammed Terminators until it's time for her to come into service.
And there you have it, it's that simple.
So, have I found the key to the mystery?
No.
I'll repeat myself, but I want to emphasize once again that I do not claim to have found the truth. My goal is rather to achieve satisfaction. With the available clues, without cheating and by following the logic, I want to tie up the plots and have a sense of finality. I want to end this essay by saying: do these explanations hold up? Yes, 100%. Could this be the real scenario? Yes, 100%. But is it the truth? No. In no way. We will probably never know the truth. But we can have the best probabilities and excellent hypotheses. Which will hopefully help fill the vast void left by this story in my life. If others find it satisfying, nothing could make me happier, but that's a bonus. My goal is not to find the truth but to finally sleep in peace.
And to be honest, I'm starting to believe that a cozy bed might exist. Because so far, this hypothesis holds up perfectly. It explains all the key elements of the plot and even clarifying inexplicable elements like the T-1001 box or the absence of Skynet's T-1000s.
More importantly, there is nothing stopping us from proposing any of the elements of this theory. The puzzle pieces fit perfectly into the empty spaces without hanging anywhere. At this point, everything is plausible.
But will it pass the next test? Because now it is time to take a look at the most wonderful cyborg in the franchise and the details of his mission.